Author Archives: annahaensch

Getting Primed For Halloween

Maybe it’s the chill in the air or the changing leaves, maybe it’s the ache in my belly from too much candy corn, but whatever the reason, I’ve been in the mood for spooky halloween things this past week. I’ve … Continue reading

Posted in Number Theory, Recreational Mathematics | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Take Me Out To The Stats Game!

Recently, I was hanging out watching the Pirates crumble under the pressure of a wild card game and someone asked me a really good question. Supposing you were busy taking selfies and missed a few plays, but you noticed that … Continue reading

Posted in Applied Math, Data Science, Math Education | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Take Me Out To The Stats Game!

That Time Terence Tao Won $500 From Paul Erdős

Suppose you have some arbitrary sequence of 1 and -1, something like this 1, 1, -1, -1, -1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, -1, -1, …. And suppose you start plucking entries from fixed intervals and adding them together. For … Continue reading

Posted in Number Theory, people in math, Publishing in Math | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Cheap Alternative To Pricey Journals

I’ve written before about the Elsevier boycott and the current shift in community feelings about the traditional journal model. Namely, that it stinks. The traditional journal model, that is. This morning while perusing my Monday morning blogroll I found something … Continue reading

Posted in Publishing in Math, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Long Live The Blank Slate

It’s the first day of school. I always loved this feeling as a kid. You’ve got your shiny new notebooks, freshly sharpened pencils, and your first day outfit all ironed and ready to go. Nothing can really compete will that … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off on Long Live The Blank Slate

Math Fought The Law, And The Law Won

Math is full of laws: group laws in abstract algebra, the law of sines in trigonometry, and De Morgan’s law in set theory, to name a few. And occasionally, the law is full of math. That was the certainly the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 9 Comments

In Praise of Teamwork

Part of what makes math blogging so interesting is that it helps to build connections between the people creating math and those consuming math. The evolution in math blogging and blossoming of math on twitter has done a great deal … Continue reading

Posted in Number Theory, people in math, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on In Praise of Teamwork

Talking ‘Art of Mathematics’ With Its Creators

This week I was at the Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) Workshop in San Luis Obispo and I had the rare and wonderful occasion to sit down for dinner with a great team of bloggers and get to know them a … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

An Ugly Song That Definitely Won’t Get Stuck In Your Head. I Promise.

If you’ve ever had the hook from Call Me Maybe stuck in your head for three days, you know the power of a well-patterend musical hook. It’s these patterns in music that speak to our human brains and often help … Continue reading

Posted in Mathematics and the Arts | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on An Ugly Song That Definitely Won’t Get Stuck In Your Head. I Promise.

Happy Deep Fried Torus Day

Last Friday was National Doughnut Day and I hope everyone celebrated accordingly. Aside from being delicious with a cup of coffee, these sweet treats are a great way to think about math. From simple brain teasers to advances in quantum … Continue reading

Posted in Events, Math Education | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Happy Deep Fried Torus Day